There are 16 teams in the world that play the Twenty20 format of cricket and are recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The 16 teams are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.
It could never be easy to see your favourite player not being ranked amongst the 10 best T20 batsmen in the world as of 2023, however, it takes ICC immense time and hard work to assess the performances of these batsmen and then rank them on several sets.
Though these rankings change over time depending upon several factors like the number of matches played by the player, performance of the player in the Twenty20 matches they played, ICC also considers the circumstances in the match before rating the player on the scale of 0 to 1000.
Without further ado, let us take a look at the list.
| POS | PLAYER NAME | TEAM | CAREER BEST RATING |
| 1 | Suryakumar Yadav | IND | 910 v New Zealand, 27/01/2023 |
| 2 | Mohammad Rizwan | PAK | 875 v England, 28/09/2022 |
| 3 | Aiden Markram | SA | 896 v England, 05/05/2019 |
| 4 | Babar Azam | PAK | 896 v England, 05/05/2019 |
| 5 | Rilee Rossouw | SA | 724 v West Indies, 28/03/2023 |
| 6 | Dawid Malan | ENG | 915 v South Africa, 01/12/2020 |
| 7 | Muhammad Waseem | UAE | 716 v Afghanistan, 19/02/2023 |
| 8 | Jos Buttler | ENG | 674 v New Zealand, 10/11/2021 |
| 9 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 900 v Zimbabwe, 03/07/2018 |
| 10 | Reeza Hendricks | SA | 661 v Australia, 30/08/2023 |
Who are the Top T20 Batsmen In The World?
This year has been great for Cricket and we have seen some great action on the ground. However, a handful of batsmen could prove their prowess on the pitch, let us see who those 10 batsmen are:
1. Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav is an Indian cricketer who was born on September 14, 1990, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium-fast bowler. Yadav started his domestic cricket career in 2010 by representing Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.
Yadav is an Indian middle-order batsman who made his international debut in March 2021. He is known for his aggressive batting style and his ability to play big shots. Yadav has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket; his consistent performances in domestic cricket earned him a spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2012. He played for MI until 2017 and then joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the 2018 season. In 2020, Yadav returned to MI and played a crucial role in their title-winning campaign.
He was one of the standout performers for MI in the IPL 2020, scoring 480 runs in 16 matches at an impressive average of 40.00 and a strike rate of 145.01.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: SKY
- Height: 1.73 m
- Batting: Right-handed
- Spouse: Devisha Shetty
- T20 Debut: March 14 2021, in the 4th T20I, match against England in Ahmedabad, India.
- T20 Batting Stats: Suryakumar Yadav played 21 T20 matches and scored 664 runs in 20 Innings. S Yadav has a strike rate of 153.7, with an average of 31.61 in 432 T20 balls.
Also Read, Top 10 Men ODI Bowlers In The World According To The International Cricket Council
2. Mohammad Rizwan
Another Pakistani opener makes it to the list of T20 batsmen in the world, this time it is the 29 years olf Mohammad Rizwan who is a highly rated wicketkeeper-batsman and is a big fan of former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist.
Rizwan made his T20 debut against Bangladesh, however, did not get a chance to bat in the match. Rizwan made it to the Pakistan National team at the age of 22, an incredible feat considering he was just 17 when he joined the Peshawar College team.
Rizwan holds the record of most runs in a calendar year in the T20 format with 831 runs which he scored this year. He also has the second-highest batting average in the T20 format of 52.00.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Rizwan
- Height: 5 feet 11 inches
- Batting: Right-handed batsman
- Spouse: Single
- T20 Debut: 24th April 2015 against Bangladesh
- T20 Batting Stats: 44 matches, 33 innings with an Average of 52.0 and a Strike Rate of 130.0
3. Babar Azam
Babar Azam, who is often compared to Virat Kohli for his playing style, and made his debut against England more than 1 year after he made his ODI debut for Pakistan.
The 27-year-old is the captain of the Pakistan Cricket team across all formats. As of now, he ranks 2nd on the ICC T20 batsmen rankings. In September of 2019, he was named the vice-captain of the Pakistan Cricket team across all formats and the next month, October 2019, he was named the Captain for the T20 format of the team.
Babar Azam holds the record of reaching the 2,000 run-mark the fastest as it took him just 52 innings. It took Virat Kohli 56 innings to reach the 2,000 run-mark in T20. Australia’s Aaron Finch ranks 3rd with 62 innings.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Bobby, Bobzy
- Height: 5 feet 11 inches
- Batting: Right-handed batsman
- Spouse: Unmarried
- T20 Debut: 7th September 2016 against England
- T20 Batting Stats: 61 matches, 56 innings with an Average of 46.89 and a Strike Rate of 130.65
Also Read, 10 Best Fantasy Cricket Apps In India 2021
4. Aiden Markram
Aiden Markram is a South African top-order batsman who made his international debut in 2017. He is known for his technique and his ability to play long innings. Markram has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and has been a regular member of the South African national team in all formats of the game. Notably, he is recognized as one of the most promising T20 batsmen in the world.
Markram was appointed as the captain of the South African Test team in 2018 and led the team in the absence of regular skipper Faf du Plessis. He led the team in six Test matches, winning four and losing two. Markram’s impressive performances with the bat continued in the series against India, and he scored a century in the second Test of the series.
In addition to his Test exploits, Markram has also been a valuable member of South Africa’s limited-overs teams. He made his T20I debut for South Africa in February 2018 and has since played 31 T20Is, scoring 559 runs at an average of 22.36 and a strike rate of 126.84. He has also played 32 ODIs for South Africa, scoring 1093 runs at an average of 36.43 and a strike rate of 84.15.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Markus
- Height: 1.83 m
- Batting: Right-handed
- Spouse: Katelyn Attwell
- T20 Debut: February 9 2018
- T20 Batting Stats: 34 matches, and scored 1088 runs in 32 Innings. A Markram has a strike rate of 140 with an average of 28.63 in 777 T20 balls.
5. Devon Conway
Devon Conway, born in July 1991 is a 30-year-old New Zealand professional cricketer, however, he is one of the 5 South Africans who have played for New Zealand. Yes, Conway is a South African by birth, he was born in Johannesburg, Transvaal.
Conway shares the 1st rank for Highest Partnership for the 3rd wicket in T20 with GD Phillips. They scored 184 runs against West Indies in November last year. Conway also ranks 6th for Most runs in an innings by a wicketkeeper with an unbeaten 92 run innings against Bangladesh in March this year.
Conway shifted to New Zealand in 2017 and was already an established name in the domestic circuit of South Africa with close to 100 First-Class matches and 70 List A matches. Conway became eligible to represent New Zealand in 2020 and that’s when he made his T20 debut.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Conway
- Height: 5 feet 11 inches
- Batting: Left-handed batsman
- Spouse: Kim Watson (Fiancee)
- T20 Debut: 27th November 2020 against West Indies
- T20 Batting Stats: 14 matches, 11 innings with an Average of 59.12 and a Strike Rate of 151.12
Also Read: 10 Best Cricket Captains In The World Who Dominated The World Stage
6. Rilee Rossouw
Rilee Rossouw is a South African middle-order batsman who made his international debut in 2014. He is known for his aggressive batting style and his ability to play big shots. Rossouw has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and has been a regular member of the South African national team in all formats of the game. In addition to his international and domestic performances, Rossouw has also made his mark as one of the top T20 batsmen in the world.
Rossouw has also been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. He scored over 7000 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 45.21 and took 40 wickets with his left-arm spin. Rossouw’s impressive performances in domestic cricket earned him a spot in the South African squad for the 2015 World Cup.
In 2016, Rossouw signed a Kolpak deal with the English county team Hampshire and played for them until 2019. He also played in various T20 leagues around the world, including the Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, and Bangladesh Premier League.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Rudi
- Height: 1.75 m
- Batting: Left-handed
- Spouse: single
- T20 Debut: Twenty20 International debut for South Africa against Australia on November 5 2014
- T20 Batting Stats: Rossouw has played 29 T20 matches and has a strike rate of 161 with an average of 28.20 in 508 T20 balls.
7. Muhammad Waseem
Muhammad Waseem is a United Arab Emirates all-rounder who made his international debut in 2022. He is known for his aggressive batting style and his ability to bowl useful spin. Waseem has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and has been a regular member of the UAE national team in all formats of the game.
Waseem has been a consistent performer for the United Arab Emirates in the domestic circuit as well. He scored over 1000 runs in list A cricket at an average of 34.62 and took 18 wickets with his left-arm spin. In T20 cricket, he has scored over 1300 runs at an average of 27.97 and has also taken 27 wickets.
In addition to his cricketing abilities, Waseem has also been a part of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. He is a serving officer in the United Arab Emirates Army and has been granted leave from his military duties to pursue his cricketing career.
Waseem’s impressive performances in domestic and international cricket have made him one of the most exciting talents in United Arab Emirates cricket. He is seen as a potential leader for the future and is expected to play a key role in the United Arab Emirates’ cricketing success in the years to come.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Falcon
- Height: 168 cm
- Batting: Right-handed
- Spouse: single
- T20 Debut: He made his T20I debut on October 5 2021, for the UAE against Namibia.
- T20 Batting Stats: 23 matches, 23 innings, a run of 942 with a strike rate of 144.25 with an average 42.81
8. Dawid Malan
Dawid Malan is an English cricketer who could be described as a late bloomer in the international circuit. The 34-year-old Roehampton-born cricketer only made his debut in T20 in 2017, at the age of 30. But he soon made a name for himself and ranks number 1 on the list of best T20 batsmen in the world as per ICC.
Dawid was called up to the national T20 team for the 3-match series against South Africa in 2017 and in his debut, he smashed 78 runs in just 44 deliveries and even earned himself the Man of the Match award.
He holds the record for the highest T20 innings by any England player. He is also the fastest player to reach 1000 runs in T20 in just 24 innings, leaving behind both Babar Azam (26) and Virat Kohli (27).
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: AC, The Milky Way Boss
- Height: 6 feet
- Batting: Left-handed batsman
- Spouse: Claire Mottram (2019)
- T20 Debut: 25th June 2017 against South Africa
- T20 Batting Stats: 30 matches, 30 innings with an Average of 43.19 and a Strike Rate of 139.33
9. Aaron Finch
Aaron James Finch is an Australian international cricket player who is known for his hard-hitting and as a match finisher. Born on 17th November 1986, the 34-year-old player ranks third on the list of the world’s best T20 batsmen and shows no sign of slowing down.
Finch made his T20 debut almost 11 years ago against England and played an unbeaten inning of 15 runs from 14 balls having come at a 3-down position. However, it was the second match against England where he showed his power-hitter prowess. He scored 53 in just 33 balls and earned the Man of the Match award.
Finch holds multiple records in the T20 format of the game including most runs in an innings by a captain with 172 runs, he also has the record to his name of the player with most fours in an innings with 16.
Finch also enjoys the record of the highest percentage of runs in a completed innings with 75.10%.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Finchy
- Height: 5 feet 8 inches
- Batting: Right-handed batsman
- Spouse: Amy Griffiths (2018)
- T20 Debut: 12th January 2011 against England
- T20 Batting Stats: 76 matches, 76 innings with an Average of 37.47 and a Strike Rate of 150.24
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10. Reeza Hendricks
Reeza Hendricks is a South African cricketer who proved his mettle in his third T20I, showcasing his ability to play big shots and scoring 49 runs. Known for his explosive batting, Hendricks etched his name in the record books by becoming one of the few South African cricketers to score a century in their maiden One Day International (ODI).
Hendricks had a breakthrough domestic season in 2018, where he became the first South African cricketer to score centuries in all three South African franchise competitions within a single season. He notched up three centuries in the four-day competition and hundreds in the Momentum one-day and Ram Slam T20 tournaments.
His phenomenal run-scoring ability was on full display as he amassed 412 runs in eight innings, including consecutive unbeaten centuries. He scored three consecutive fifties against England, followed by impressive innings of 74 and 42 against Ireland in the span of ten days.
Fun Facts:
- Nickname: Hendricks
- Height: 5 feet 9 inches, 175 cm
- Batting: Right-handed
- Spouse: Not specified
- T20 Debut: November 2014 against Australia
- T20 Batting Stats: 54 Matches, 53 innings with an average of 31.63 and a strike rate of 130.55.
Also Read, Top 15 Batsmen With Most Sixes In IPL Under Their Belt
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question 1: Who is the No 1 T20 batsmen in the world?
Answer 1: As of now, the 34-year-old Dawid Malan from England ranks No 1 in T20 in the world with a rating of 841/1000 given by the International Cricket Council.
Question 2: Which of the top 10 T20 batsmen scored maximum centuries in T20 International cricket?
Answer 2: Left-hand opening batsman from West Indies and 9th in the ICC T20 batsman ranking, Evin Lewis scored 2 centuries in 23 matches and 23 innings.